5 Personal Branding Mistakes to Avoid

Is one of your goals to level-up and become known as the go-to person in your niche?

If you answered yes, then read on.

It’s no longer an option to ignore the impact a strong online presence will have on the success (or failure) of your business. 

Are you ready?

Whether you’re full-time in your business or you’re side-hustling with a dream to make your passion your paycheck - having a strong personal brand that establishes your know, like and trust factor as well as clearly representing who you are, what you do, why you do it and who you do it for - is essential for your success.

Why?

Because when someone is making a decision on whether to invest in working with you; interview you for their podcast; consider you for a speaking opportunity; or purchase one of your digital products - they will be googling your name, checking out your website and ALL of your social media channels.

As the CEO of your business, it’s your job to ensure that how you’re being represented across your digital channels is aligned with the vision you have for your brand.

What is the simplest way to do this?

By having a digital footprint and creating consistent content that aligns with your brand vision; demonstrates your knowledge, and positions you as the go-to expert in your niche.

This begins with how you show up online and sharing your story with the world.

So, how can you ensure you stand out and captivate your audience? 

By avoiding these five mistakes:

1.Being invisible.

Hiding behind your brand and being invisible to your audience is something you want to avoid at all costs.

Here’s the thing: people buy from people they like. To help your audience develop a relationship with you, you need to get in front of them so they can relate to you and establish a meaningful connection.

While I’m the first to admit, it can be super awkward and uncomfortable putting yourself out there (especially if you’re an introvert like me!) the more you do it, the easier it gets. 

Think about it this way: the more you’re willing to get uncomfortable, the more chance you will have of your business being a success.

Here are a couple ways you can do this:

Video. There are a ton of options when it comes to creating video including YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, IGTV and Instagram Stories.

If you want to dip your toes in the water, start by showing up on Instagram Stories. This is the lowest barrier to entry as your content doesn’t need to be polished and you can start with short 15 second stories. And hey, you can always add a filter on your story so it helps make you look even more amazing than you already are!

Photography. Do not underestimate the power of using photographs that show your face on your website and your social media channels.

Ensuring you have a photo of yourself on your social media profile pictures and including several on the About page of your website, instantly builds trust and helps create transparency around who you are.

Preferably you have invested in professional brand photography, but if you’re just starting out, get someone to take some shots of you and use these (an iPhone is perfectly fine - there are plenty of apps that make it easy for it to look like it’s a professional shot).

2. Lack of clarity on your brand purpose.

Your Brand Purpose is simply the Why behind everything you’re doing and creating in your business. Lack of clarity around your why is not only going to make it challenging for you to show up and share your story, but it’s also going to confuse the heck out of your audience.

And guess what? Confusion kills conversion.

So to avoid this at all costs, start getting super clear on your brand purpose. 

Here are some questions you’ll want to consider:

• Why did you start your business? Did you start to make money? Or perhaps you wanted to create a business around doing something you love? Or maybe you just want the freedom to live the lifestyle you desire (this one is definitely true for me!)  
• What does your business do? What is the primary way you are solving problems for your clients? Is it through offering a service? Perhaps you sell digital products or host workshops? Maybe it’s a mix of all of these things!
• Who are you doing it for? For your business to be successful, you need to be specific about who you’re serving so you can address their problems through the products and services you offer. Get as specific as possible with this - imagine your dream client as one person you would LOVE to work with and go into detail describing them!
• What problem are you solving for your clients? There are many ways for people to go about finding solutions for a problem they have, so you have to get clear about the solution you’re offering to solve a particular problem your dream client is facing. What is the key transformation that you can offer if they work with you? How will it impact and change their life after they have bought your product / invested in your services or attended your workshop?
• What is your unique selling point (USP)?: how do you do things differently than your competitors? Maybe it’s a specific process you take your clients through or a system you’ve created that gets results; or perhaps it’s a super personalized service people can’t find anywhere else. 

As Simon Sinek says: People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.